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National Day 60th Anniversary Celebrations

October
1st is the anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic
of China in 1949, and is celebrated as the National Holiday all over
China. In 1949 a grand ceremony was held at Tiananmen Square at which
Mao Zedong, solemnly declared the founding of P.R.C. and raised the
first national flag of China in person.

When the anniversary is a multiple of five the celebrations are especially
magnificent. The 60th birthday of a person is considered a most auspicious
one. For this 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China,
the country has several celebrations planned. In Beijing, there will
be the Grand National Day Parade, followed by a mass pageant and firework
display. Click the link below to see photos of preparations around the
country: http://sl.iciba.com/viewthread-18-627592-1.shtml

Beijing Celebration:

The National Day Parade is an important component of the celebrations
and President Hu Jintao is expected to deliver a keynote speech and
inspect the military parade at Tiananmen Square. The parade will highlight
the accomplishments China’s military has made with a mass pageant,
with the theme “Motherland and I Marching together.” This
will involve an estimated 200,000 citizens and 60 floats. There
is a background performance also which involves 80,000 primary and
middle school students. On the evening of October 1, a gala themed “Praising
our Motherland” will be staged at the Tiananmen Square, featuring
a large-scale fireworks display.

Other Cities:

Fireworks displays will be held nationwide in cities, including
Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou, Shanghai and more. In Shanghai, the National
Day Concert will present a moving performance of China’s musical
masterpieces. There will be a sound and light extravaganza and fireworks
will light up the sky above the Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong. All
major cities will be hosting fireworks extravaganzas on the evening
of October 1.

Beyond October 1:

From October 1 through 3, major parks and public green spaces
in Beijing will host parties and activities to celebrate National Day. On
October 5 and 6, there will be a National Day Concert at the National
Theater and people will enjoy performances of Chinese and world famous
masterpieces. The city will also host various cultural activities
including singing and dancing and speech contests and drama shows,
which will be held in about 1,000 parks on Oct. 2 and 3rd.
The National Day marks the start of one of the two Golden
Weeks in the PRC. The other Golden Week will be during Lunar
New Year festivities. For both events, many people travel to visit
family and take time off from work. There is one week off for
the whole country for this holiday. This year, Mid-Autumn Festival,
an important Chinese traditional festival, falls on October 3rd, during
the National Day Holiday, will add to the joyous atmosphere of the holiday.

Travel Considerations:

The Beijing capital airport will shut down for three hours starting
from 9:30 am on Oct 1 for the National Day parade. The capital airport
is the busiest airport in the country, with at least 1,000 flights taking
off or landing per day, or at least one flight every minute.

Similar restrictions were adopted on the opening night of the
Olympic Games last year, as more than 300 flights were cancelled or
postponed. It is wiser to simply travel at another time. Beijing resident,
Wang Yingchao said, “I want to sit in front of the TV and watch
the live broadcast of the parade that morning anyway.” She planned
a trip to Hainan province during Golden Week and has now decided to
leave on Oct 3.

Meanwhile, Beijing will see large-scale traffic control on Oct 1 to
make way for the National Day parade, officials said. Since more
than 200,000 people and 8,000 vehicles will descend on Tiananmen Square
from all corners of the city for the parade that day, traffic on main
streets and ring roads in downtown Beijing will be affected, said Shao
Jie, head of Beijing's traffic command center. Some 7,000 traffic
police will be dispatched onto the streets that day, he said.

If you would like to be in China for future celebrations, such as
Chinese New Year Golden week, you can contact us at 1-800-956-8873 or
email info@lotustours.net. You
can witness celebrations in Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Guilin, Shanghai
or other cities – you can look at: http://www.lotustours.net/customize/index.jsp Each
of these cities offers much to celebrate. Email us at info@lotustours.net and
you can be in China for the next Golden Week. (Credits: Xinhau, China
Times; Wikipedia)